"You're not afraid of me." We were so close his cheek brushed my tear-streaked one when he rasped, "And, baby, I'm worse than the dark.

——Danielle Lori

Chapter 3

"I have a few things to tell you," Lucian began to say as I walked back in the living room. I ignored the flip my heart did remembering our insane kiss from seconds ago. He was still standing in the same spot, his arms crossed across his massive chest. He looked unnerved, as though we weren't just pressed against each other moments ago.

The robe I had tightly wrapped over my body was found discarded on my bedroom floor. I also found a hair bubble and pulled my hair up and out of my face before I had exited my bedroom.

"We can sit on the sofa." I told him, starting my way towards one end of it. Clearly, he had come here for a reason and not for some quick make out session. I inwardly scoffed at myself, but outside, I plastered my best nonchalant face.

He shadowed my movements and sat down by the other side of the sofa, leaving plenty of space between the two of us. I crossed my legs but quickly uncrossed it when I realised I was close to flashing.

"I got some news about Adam but you won't like it." He started to say before I cut him off with a violent shake of my head.

"Whenever I hear his name, I have started to get the shakes for some dumb reason. I know. I know," I said quickly before he could say anything. "He shouldn't be able to have that affect on me but I can't help it, he's such a bastard and I can't help but feel so helpless for that girl and then I remembered what he did to me and how he is doing it to her-"

His hand shot out to the back of my head, the other planted on the coffee table. I couldn't make sense of how quick he seemed to have moved to close the distance between us. He lunged forward and crushed his mouth onto mine. My mouth opened on their own accord, welcoming the assault of his tongue as they prodded in. The second kiss of the night, and I swam in the warmth it gave me.

He pulled away, breathing hard and heavy.

"For making you feel like that, that alone is why the bastard is a dead man walking."

I stared at him, dazed and not sure of what to say. He couldn't possibly mean he was going to kill Adam? I could never live with that. The thought of Lucian blooding his hands for me, and for someone as worthless as Adam was not appeasing.

"What did you have to say?" I said after a audible gulp. I had to get it together. If anything, at least for that girl's sake.

Lucian released the back of my neck and sat back down on his side of the sofa. He ran his hands through his long hair and pushed it away from his face. He was devastatingly beautiful and he called me out of this world?

"I'm having trouble getting to Adam in the legal way."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "What do you mean?"

He sighed. "He's got everyone wrapped around his cock for some dumb reason. My guess is his father has got something over them or they're tight knit fuckers who don't allow for their own to go down."

I nodded in agreement. "That's probably it. I'm telling you, his dad is the big guy."

Lucian smiled but it didn't reach his eyes. "But he hasn't come across me before. Already some of them are rolling in their bed now that I got them in my sights."

I let out a scoff. "Rolling in their beds? Really?"

"Yeah. I got their houses on surveillance."

I gaped at him. Did he mean that literally? "That's illegal and totally not necessary if we're just trying to get to Adam."

"Listen, sweetheart. There's more going on than I thought. And I got some trusted men on the police force who are more than willing to help bring their corrupted seniors down."

"How did you even get in their house? Never mind their room?" I asked, still shocked at how casual he said it.

He just smiled but gave me no answer. Who was this man exactly? Who thought he could take down the majority of the police force?

"I wanted you to know, I'm doing this one last thing the legal way. If it doesn't work, I'm going in my own way. Fuck the law."

I shook my head at him violently. "No, no. If this means I got to cash in my favour for you to know do this the legal way then I will. I do not want anything on your hands for this guy."

"Sweetheart, I have a lot on my hands regardless."

"No."

He raised an eyebrow at me, a challenging look on his face. "And how are you going to stop me?"

Yeah, Lexie, I thought. How exactly are you going to stop this man?

I leaned close and looked up at him. "I'll do things to you, things no ears are allowed to hear, things to your body and your soul until you can't so much as speak never mind move."

Lucian leaned back, showcasing his broad chest that stretched out his shirt to its maximum capacity. I licked my lips in admiration, at the pure strength this man was emitting. "How do you know your things will work? Want to give it a practice run?"

"Oh, sweetheart," I mimicked him. "I don't need any practice."

Using my body to entice a man, almost a threat he seemed to enjoy clearly, wasn't something I would be an advocate of. I should have other means on hand to stop this man from doing something that, quite frankly, would get him in jail.

"Do you want to give it a shot now then?" Lucian drawled out, a crinkle appearing in the corners of his eyes. The amusement he was getting out of this was too much. Did he not know two could play at this game?

Yet, I had other pressing matters to attend to. For one, I was bone crushing tired and by the minute, I could feel my eye-lids dropping heavily. He came uninvited tonight and I was not prepared to deal with all things Lucian. On top of that, whatever he told me tonight was stressful enough. On top of that little cherry, I couldn't seem to scrape the kiss from my mind. Any woman knew the danger a kiss could have to our mental state. With a handsome man, confused feelings and burning tension... disaster was creeping close.

This wasn't a man who could reciprocate any of my feelings if I was to develop any. And he didn't seem the type to be in a relationship. Did I want those things? No, I thought. But I couldn't chance the silly part of me to rise, start feeling all these emotions and start expecting a white picket fence house with kids.

"I'm going to bed," I told him, pushing off from the sofa. "Anything else do with Adam?" I asked him, making it clear that I wasn't entertaining his train of thoughts anymore.

I watched his eyes glance down to my chest and I looked to see my robe had slightly come undone. He let out a chuckle when I quickly grabbed the front of the material and closed it.

"Anything else I'll let you know."

"Okay. Goodnight."

I walked away towards my bedroom but stopped midway. I turned to look at him. "Erm, you need to give me my keys." I held out my hand to him. "I don't even want to know how you managed to get a set, but you need to hand it over."

Lucian pushed off the sofa and stalked towards me, his hand reaching the back of his jeans. He fished out the keys and handed it to my open palm. "You need to lock you door when I leave."

I nodded at him. He walked back to where he left his jacket and put it on, all the while my eyes followed his every move. Surely he wouldn't think to whack a man if it came down to that.

Yet, it was this man who stood in front of my door, that was known for getting mess shut down, for dabbling in things the police refused to get involved in, for saving the ones who couldn't be saved. It was this man, I realised, I knew little about. I wasn't sure of his capability, of how far he would go before it was too far for his own moral compass.

"How far would you go?" I suddenly asked him. He halted just before he stepped out my apartment. He threw me a strange look over his shoulders before he answered me.

"I don't think you want to know the answer to that."

"I think I do." I whispered.

He was silent for a few seconds. "Further than you can expect."

He left after that, shutting my apartment door behind him. He didn't fully go until he knocked on my door and I knew that was his reminder to lock myself in.

I ran to the door and quickly placed all my safety locks on. I couldn't help but peek through the peephole and saw that he was leaning against the wall of my door and until he heard all my locks go in place, that's when he started walking towards the lift. I kept watching him until the lift came up, he stepped in and it closed.

Turning back to my living room, I made quick work to shut everything down before I headed to my bedroom. I fell onto my bed in a messy heap, clutching the pillow under my head.  Moments later, the heavy drag of my exhaustion took over and I fell asleep.